How scoring actually works
A plain-language explanation of the scoring in every sport Score All keeps: what wins a game, who serves next, when the set is over, and which of the rules your club plays are official and which were invented in somebody's garage. Nothing here needs an account to read.
Scoring rules, sport by sport
How table tennis scoring works
Official 11-point scoring, deuce serving, doubles rotation.
How pickleball scoring works
Side-out or rally scoring, 0-0-2 doubles, server tracking.
How tennis scoring works
Games, sets, deuce and tiebreaks, all counted for you.
How padel scoring works
Tennis scoring, always doubles, golden point option.
How badminton scoring works
Rally scoring to 21, 30-point cap, best of 3.
How squash scoring works
PAR to 11, best of 5; English scoring to 9 as an option.
How racquetball scoring works
Side-out scoring to 15, tiebreaker to 11.
How volleyball scoring works
Sets to 25, deciding set to 15, best of 3 or 5.
How basketball scoring works
Game clock, shot clock, periods, fouls and overtime, or pickup to 21.
How soccer scoring works
Two halves, running clock, goals, cards, extra time and penalties.
How futsal scoring works
Two 20-minute halves, accumulated fouls, indoor five-a-side.
How football scoring works
Quarters, touchdowns, field goals and a game clock.
How rugby scoring works
Tries, conversions, penalties and drop goals on a running clock.
How hockey scoring works
Three periods, goals, overtime and a shootout.
How lacrosse scoring works
Four quarters, goals, penalties and overtime.
How baseball & softball scoring works
Innings, outs, line score, walk-offs and mercy rules.
How ultimate frisbee scoring works
Game to 15, cap at 17, halftime at 8.
How pool & billiards scoring works
Race to N racks for 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball; points for straight pool.
How bocce scoring works
Frame scoring: 1 to 4 points a frame, first to 12.
How shuffleboard scoring works
Table (to 15/21, 1-4 a round) or deck (to 75, triangle scoring).
How cornhole scoring works
Cancellation scoring to 21, bust or exact finish.
How roundnet scoring works
Roundnet (Spikeball): rally scoring to 21, win by 2.
How beer pong scoring works
Cups sunk, first to clear the rack.
How custom points game scoring works
Any points-based game: set the target, the serve rule and the point values.
Card game scoring rules: bids, bags, melds and moons
How each card game is actually scored, hand by hand, with the house rules tables really use.
How spades scoring works
Bids, nil, bags and sandbag penalties, added up for you.
How hearts scoring works
Low score wins: points per hand, moon shots and passing order.
How euchre scoring works
Makers, marches, loners and euchres in two taps.
How gin rummy scoring works
Knocks, gin, undercuts, box and game bonuses.
How Rummy 500 scoring works
Melds minus deadwood, hand by hand, first to 500.
How cribbage scoring works
A pegging board on your phone: 121 or 61, skunks called.
How pinochle scoring works
Bid, meld and counters; sets and saves handled.
How canasta scoring works
Canastas, red threes and going out, to 5,000.
How Oh Hell scoring works
Up and Down the River: exact bids, rounds counted for you.
How Hand and Foot scoring works
Clean and dirty books, rounds and meld minimums.
How card game scoring works
Any card game: points per hand, high or low wins.
The specific rules people ask about
The skunk rule
What is the skunk rule in ping pong?
What 0-0-2 means
What does 0-0-2 mean in pickleball?
The freeze rule
What is the freeze rule in pickleball?
No-ad scoring
What is no-ad scoring in tennis?
Soft cap and hard cap
What is a hard cap in ultimate frisbee?
The ghost runner
What is the ghost runner rule?
The kitchen in shuffleboard
What is the kitchen in shuffleboard?
Bocce exact finish
What is the exact finish rule in bocce?
Table tennis doubles serve order
What is the serve order in table tennis doubles?
Classic 21-point ping pong
What are the old 21-point ping pong rules?
Shooting the moon
What is shooting the moon in hearts?
Bags in spades
What are bags in spades?
Nil and blind nil
What is a nil bid in spades?
Going alone in euchre
What is a loner in euchre?
The undercut in gin rummy
What is an undercut in gin rummy?
Skunks in cribbage
What is a skunk in cribbage?
The minimum first meld in canasta
What is the minimum meld in canasta?
The hook rule in Oh Hell
What is the hook rule in Oh Hell?
Let the app apply the rules for you
Every rule on these pages is a switch when you set a match up, and the scoreboard honors it.
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